Your home is not only a place to live, it’s also your largest financial investment. Many homeowners spend their time thinking about kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodels as a way to increase their house value. A much more immediate and cost-effective measure often overlooked is professional exterior cleaning. The outside of your home is the first thing people see when they come to your property, and the first thing that they’ll think of when it’s time to sell. Having your exterior kept looking clean and in good condition not only makes the home look good, it significantly improves the curb appeal and value of your home when it does get on the market. And engaging a professional pressure washing company is the single fastest way to get that big change.
The Direct Link Between Curb Appeal and Property Value
Our real estate specialists agree on one thing: curb appeal is essential to a home’s value. It sets the tone for buyers’ entire vision of the home. While a mucky, mildewy exterior, dirty driveway, and stained walkways don’t mean much, they tend to assume there could be more serious problems that come up down the road. On the other hand, a clean, crisp exterior doesn’t mean it’s always looked after, either—it can signal pride and attention to detail, which has been seen in the greater community. The combination of a pleasant first impression and strong local marketing can help not only make it easier to sell, it can help increase the final offer price significantly. Think twice before investing in your own curb appeal.
More Than Just a Pretty Façade: The Power of Washing
The outside of your home also gives your eyes a nice touch. As time passes, dirt, grime, pollen, algae, and mildew build up on your exterior surfaces. These contaminants in fact may cause serious damage, so don’t be fooled by their exterior looks. Mold and algae can scratch paint and caulking, while moss can lift shingles off your roof and let water in. A trusted pressure washing company is not just good for the outside of your home; they can preserve the structural integrity of your siding, roof, and foundation by removing all these nasty contaminants, saving you a lot of money in the long run on expensive repairs in the future.
Why Professional Expertise Makes All the Difference
However, even if you do this yourself by using your personal consumer grade pressure washing machine, there is often a chance that it will cause problems and more serious damage to your property. This can happen when you attempt to lower the pressure too low or not enough to damage your windows, or allow any water to trickle under the siding and into the walls. Choosing a professional pressure washing company to help protect your home, and to get the job done right also requires knowing what types of pressures and cleaning solutions you should be using, and for what material to use depending on your siding, which can cause serious damage.
Transform Your Driveway and Walkways
Every entrance to your house plus all of the entry ways around it are very popular places for people to pass, and really they are areas that you would want to make sure they do not have dirt, mildew, etc. smeared on them. You could have some oil on the driveway, or people might leave tire marks on the asphalt for someone to run over. So a professional will be able to get those dirtier stains off of your driveway and also make it look like it did when you bought it and that makes a difference to your curb appeal and they will see it when they come to appraise the property.
Restore the Beauty of Your Siding and Walls
Whether you live in a vinyl wall system or a brick system, stucco or wood, it’s obvious that your home’s exterior walls are constantly exposed to the elements. That’s why you get green algae and black mildew and all sorts of debris buildup that makes your home look decades older than it is. Having your surface appear as fresh and shiny as new can take just a few hours to do so and this is often so amazing that you don’t even want to have the entire house repaint it since it’s really cheap. And still, it’s the biggest visual upgrade.
Don’t Neglect the Roof: A Critical Element of Maintenance
Another major warning sign that your roof may need to be cleaned is for home inspectors and buyers. Dark streaks from algae or spots of moss can be a real turnoff as they can hinder the longevity of your roof materials by holding moisture in. A qualified pressure washing company will utilize specially designed soft washing methods to safely and effectively kill and remove these organic growths without removing any of the protective granules on your shingles. A well maintained roof will make your home look and feel better in the eyes of prospective buyers and also reassure them that the home is structurally sound.
The Impact on Outdoor Living Spaces
In today’s market outdoor living spaces are prized, and a stained deck or a dirty patio just won’t help sell those valuable spaces. Professional cleaning can actually give your wood deck, composite materials, and stone patios a facelift so they’re looking new again and make them a lot more attractive for outside entertaining and relaxing. This brings the usable square footage of your home up in the eyes of a buyer, and even makes the house more desirable and valuable overall.
Making the Investment for a Higher Return
A professional pressure washing service is one of the most cost-effective home improvement options any homeowner can consider. This is a relatively quick process that provides immediate, visible results, and the immediate return in terms of curb appeal positively impacts your property’s resale value, often for a much lower cost than other major renovation projects. Before you consider any further large-scale, “fix it to get it done, ” take a look at your exterior. And it just could be all you need to unlock its potential, unlocking its true value, and getting you the highest possible return on your investment when it comes time to sell.